The Alabama Center is considered a Houston Landmark. The 739 seat theater was built in 1939 and closed in 1983. The building was purchased in the early 1970ís by Pete Kaldis Realty Co. and Weingarten Realty.

Renovations to the center in 1984 kept the Alabama Theater and the two adjoining buildings intact while undergoing an exterior and interior renovation designed to preserve the Art Deco architecture of the 1930ís. A distinct feature of the property was the conversion of the historic Alabama Theater into the Bookstop, the largest bookstore in Houston in 1989. It is now anchored by Petís Mart and Bookstop.